“From my years of tracking Apple, two very consistent threads seem to drive Apple’s strategy,” Tim Bajarin writes for Tech.pinions. “These threads deal with two key things: The first is embodied in the original Mac strategy but defined, even more, when Steve Jobs left Apple and started a new computing company called NeXT. In fact, the name of Job’s new company is the consistent thread that drives Apple’s overall view of the world. Apple’s core DNA has been to deliver the “next” major advancement to the personal computing experience on a continuous basis. The second thread is how they advance user interfaces with the computer. Their innovations in man-machine interfaces started with the Mac and then extended to the iPod, iPhone, the iPad and most recently, Apple Watch.”
“As I look at Apple’s future role at driving a ‘next’ computing experience, I am drawn to two essential technology developments that give us a hint of where they could be headed. The first is Augmented Reality. Apple introduced this at their developer’s conference in June 2017. I see AR Kit and AR apps being at the center of Apple’s ‘next’ big thing that advances the personal computing experience. At the moment it is focused on using the iPhone and its screen as the delivery device for this AR experience,” Bajarin writes. “Where Apple can and will expand the “next” big thing in personal computing will come through some form of goggles or glasses.”
“I believe Apple’s strategy will have the iPhone serve as the CPU and brains behind these glasses and feed the data and AR content to what I call ‘skinny’ glasses, which would be Apple’s ‘next’ significant way they will drive the future of personal computing,” Bajarin writes. “By using a future iPhone designed and tuned to deliver rich AR content to a set of smart glasses wirelessly, Apple would allow their glasses to be light and most likely look like a regular pair of glasses.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As with the Apple Watch, the iPhone will, at first, be required for most Apple Glasses operation and this dependency will lessen over time as technology progresses.
Augmented Reality is going to change everything. — MacDailyNews, July 21, 2017
The impact of augmented reality cannot be overstated. It will be a paradigm shift larger than the iPhone and the half-assed clones it begat. — MacDailyNews, August 4, 2017
Someday, hopefully sooner than later, we’ll look back at holding up slabs of metal and glass to access AR as unbelievably quaint. — MacDailyNews, July 28, 2017
Stylish eyewear that actually delivers useful data to wearers is potentially a huge market and Apple is exactly the company to deliver just such a wearable. — MacDailyNews, January 25, 2017
SEE ALSO:
Analyst: Augmented reality could be an $8 billion revenue opportunity for Apple – July 10, 2018
Golfshot introduces Golfscape AR augmented reality feature exclusive to Apple’s iOS devices – May 31, 2018
Shopify uses Apple’s ARKit to bring augmented reality to e-commerce – February 16, 2018
Apple acquires Canadian augmented reality headset startup Vrvana – November 21, 2017
Apple working on augmented reality headset running ‘rOS’ to ship as early as 2020 – November 8, 2017
Apple’s AR smartglasses – understanding the issues – August 29, 2017
Bernstein: Apple’s ‘smartglasses’ opportunity ‘could be enormous’ – August 25, 2017
Apple working on several prototypes of AR glasses – August 4, 2017
Apple’s next big move: Augmented reality – August 3, 2017
Apple’s rumored new glasses will be an even bigger deal than the iPhone – July 28, 2017
Apple smart glasses are inevitable – July 28, 2017
New app using Apple’s ARKit lets iPhone recreate 16 weeks of painstaking rotoscoping on the fly – July 27, 2017
Gene Munster: Apple Glasses will soon outshine the iPhone – June 28, 2017
Gene Munster: Expect Apple smart glasses in mid-2020 – June 27, 2017
Augmented Reality: Apple’s revolutionary offering leaves Google’s Android woefully behind – June 26, 2017
Apple’s AR is much closer to reality than Google’s – June 26, 2017
UBS: Apple may eventually launch ‘iGlass’ smart glasses – June 20, 2017
IKEA’s forthcoming Augmented Reality furniture app powered by Apple’s ARKit – June 19, 2017
Apple’s single most important WWDC 2017 announcement: ARKit – June 11, 2017
Apple CEO Cook discusses philosophy behind HomePod, ARKit’s potential market impact – June 6, 2017
Overnight, Apple will own the world’s largest augmented reality platform – June 7, 2017
Analysts: Apple’s Corning investment hints at AR glasses and wireless charging tech – May 14, 2017
Apple awards Corning $200 million in first Advanced Manufacturing Fund investment – May 12, 2017
Leaked document details Apple employee eye injuries, hints at Apple AR glasses – April 20, 2017
Apple began working on augmented reality glasses more than a year ago, sources say – March 27, 2017
Apple is working on several AR products, including glasses, but first in iPhone, sources say – March 20, 2017
Why Apple will make smart glasses – January 25, 2017
Couldn’t give a shit less about Augmented Reality for what I use my computers for. Like 3D TV, it is the answer to the question few are asking.
Nobody wants to wear glasses.
Absolutely correct. I know I don’t want to wear them. Apple is always coming up with things that don’t have any real value. That’s why all the FANG stocks are blowing Apple away in terms of share gains. Apple is truly clueless on what they think consumers want.
Market valuation is driven by many factors. FANG stocks are currently being driven by unrealistic expectations, in my opinion. I also believe that these companies are potentially vulnerable to political, social, and technological evolutions that could render them less attractive. The EU push for greater control over personal privacy and personal data, for instance, could adversely impact Google and other companies that are highly dependent on internet advertising. That is especially true if the EU initiative spreads to the U.S. and other countries across the world.
One aspect of your post puzzle me — “Apple is always coming up with things that don’t have any real value.” What things?
Who wants augmented reality? Just give me a faster horse.
Have you seen the news lately? I can’t of anything I need more than AR. That and a pound of weed.
Apple hasn’t delivered any groundbreaking personal computing since well before Jobs’ death. Since the iPhone, Apple forgot what personal means. Today in the thin client world Apple and others keep pushing, it is all about monthly subscribers. Truly great software isn’t sold directly to consumers based on merits or capabilities, but by gimmicks in a monopoly company store. Amateurish reviews, partial functionality, and inapp purchase games (a game in itself) dominate. Devices Apple pushes hard now are all different shape and size NOT PERSONAL clients demanding always on network tracking. Data is treated like it is owned by the rental provider, not the user. Privacy is gone, the user is only given the vague promise that Apple will protect you. Fappening and other cloud breaches, or breakout boxes that crack iPhones in moments are 100% the fault of the user because Apple never makes mistakes, right?
Apple has fallen so far behind in personal computing because it is big fat and greedy, preying on the low info users who fund addictive iOS app sales and fashionistas who need to have the latest model mobile phone to feel important.
I’m not buying it. The only person who will ever manage your privacy and data properly is you. IOS and everything about Apples services are all about the user outsourcing that responsibility to a corporation that promises much but underdelivers over and over.
The Mac used to stand tall in the world of private, secure computing. Apple is too distracted to keep it ahead, it’s too busy trying to trick users into renting every flavor of fragmented iOS.
Ya know, I agree with most everything you said, but the reality is I ain’t going nowhere and I know it. Working on an iMac Pro, with my iPhone and iPad plugged in beside me. Tonight I’ll switch on the AppleTV and bitch about that POS remote while one of my 3 kids or wife calls me from their iPhones.
They are still good products but they could be so-o-o much more.
Being true to my handle… and therefore sincere.
To me the only truly groundbreaking product was the iPod Touch. Everything else mobile has been incremental off of that paradigm.
It was a big one though.
Ok, apparently you don’t know your Apple history very well…
The iPod Touch CAME from the iPhone. iPhone came first THEN the iPod Touch was introduced a couple months later.
So your comment should be the MOST groundbreaking mobile device Apple created was the iPhone and everything else ponied off of that…
I understand that either the iPad or iPod Touch was developed first. Regardless the iPod Touch was the first to launch, by a lot.
The sentiment of my post does not change, replace iPod Touch with whatever came first. The others are direct derivatives.
Aside from your lack of understanding of iPod-iPhone-iPod touch history, I disagree with your assertion. The mainstreaming of the GUI in the mid-1980s is the foundation for all modern operating systems, including the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. The I/O methods have evolved – keyboard/mouse, trackpad, touchscreen, pencil/stylus, etc., but all of these devices employ a GUI. Thus, the GUI was a more fundamental breakthrough than the touch interface.
Thank you Xerox…
I’m too ignorant to understand how AR is going to be important to users. I wish someone would give me a good example of what AR can do instead of making it a cure-all of what ails Apple. iPhones are already expensive. I’m sure Apple’s AR Glasses will also be expensive. I’d like to know if consumers spend money on both devices, what exactly are they getting back in return in terms of augmented reality. A virtual measuring tape doesn’t really cut it.
Bajarin seems to be one of the few Apple cheerleaders and I’m thankful for his claims. However, I think he’s going overboard with Apple’s ability to win over consumers with any product.
You are already benefiting from AR. AR is simply an electronic overlay atop an image of a portion of the real world such as Pokemon or it can be an electronic representation of data such as Apple Maps on your iPhone screen. Apple Maps offers visual and auditory feedback. Siri, for example, is AR because it augments or adds to your perception.
Yes, people don’t want to wear bulky, heavy, headache-inducing goggles for long periods; light glasses of some kind maybe.
AR. Yeeee Hawwwww
Ok. I’m over it. Next.
Great. AR. Just another fad that will require zombification of iPhone users. Most likely you will be hit by the driving maniacs out there, or have your head caved in wearing glass holes. Queue the lawsuits I see coming already you Pokémon idiots.
Sorry, but you folks sound like guys in the early 1900’s saying stuff like: Who needs a horseless carriage? They can’t drive me up to my barn up the hill there. They can’t take me to the next town where there are no paths that they can ride on. They can’t get me across that river in Roosterpoot county. There ain’t no gasoline stations anywhere available to me. They are so complicated, that you would have to go to school to learn about them.
Or guys in the 60’s saying: Why would I ever need automatic windows. Just something else to break. I don’t want electric door locks. What would happen if the power goes out? Then how would I get into my car? And nobody needs a car with so much technology. Give me a 4 barrel carburetor any day.
Or guys in the 90’s saying: I want to be able to build my own computer. Who needs a GUI anyway? I am just fine because I know what I am doing?